No, you do not need permits to make cosmetic changes. HOWEVER, absolutely do not sign your rights away re: skipping permits and inspections if a contractor offers that. Any reputable contractor would only work under a permit if one is required, and any contractor offering a lower price to waive it is either not reputable or outright trying to scam you.

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Yes. If you are replacing fixtures, your contractor will need to pull permits.

Valves aren't cosmetic, nor is updating the GFCI even if it's in the same place. That's interesting they offered a permit waiver for something the city requires. Saves them from you, but not you from the city or protect you from a rejected insurance claim should something go wrong. Editing to add: a lot of people do relatively minor electrical and plumbing work on their homes without issue, and no one is the wiser.

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Changing out valves does not require a permit.

It’s unclear what the actual situation is here. Definitely don’t sign away your right to keep the contractor responsible for performing up-to-code level improvements, but I can’t tell what else is being negotiated here. Definitely don’t sign a contract that totally indemnifies the contractor even in cases of negligence.

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I'm not sure. I was under the impression that at least some types of permits have to be pulled by a licensed contractor/electrician/plumber. I hope you don't mean the company was going to charge you thousands for just handling the permitting, that's been just a nominal fee when I've had it done, or they don't charge at all. Word to the wise, check to see that permits have been pulled if the contractor said they are doing it. I caught an electrician pulling a fast one in that regard and it almost delayed a house closing.

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Yeah, it's pretty annoying not being able to determine what costs what. Good luck with your bathroom remodel. I've got one on my to do list too.